Storage container for beer



p 3, 1935. R. A. WILKINS 2,013,327

STORAGE CONTAINER FOR BEER Filed March 51, 1954 e2 lnvenifow: Burk/arc! H.W?/Z7e ins 1 barrels, when in contact with beer and the like Patented Sept. 3, i935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE STORAGE CONTAINER FOR BEER Richard A. Wilkins, Rome, N. Y., assignor to Revere Copper and Brass Incorporated, Rome, N. Y., a corporation of Maryland Application March 31, 1934, Serial No. 718,480

5 Claims.

has a deleterious effect on the taste and color of the beer. These metals impart to the beer a metallic taste or an undesired taste character- I istic, of the presence of metal, and also cause discoloration of the beer. Tin plate, for example, or an alloy with a high tin content, commonly gives the beer a discoloration commonly termed tin haze.

Many metals, particularly steel, are subject to serious corrosion when in contact with the beer. This not only shortens the life of the container, but seriously affects the color and flavor of the beer. Iron rust, for example, is highly objectionable in these respects. For the above reasons it has heretofore been found impractical to store beer in a barrel or other container with the beer in contact with the metal surface. The attemptto do this, even where no serious corrosion occurs, has resulted in the beer losing its brightness accompanied by -a deleterious effect'on the taste of the beer,

causing an inferior or unmarketable product.-

In an attempt to avoid corrosion, discoloration of the beer, anda deleterious effect on the flavor of the beer, when metal been-barrels are employed, it has been common practice forthe brewer upon receiving the barrels from the barrel manufacturer to coat the insides of the barrels withso-called brewers pitch. f

The brewers pitch is commonly applied by placing it in the barrel in aliquid state and spinning the barrel for the purpose-of coating the interior surfaces. This expedient has proved to a. large extentunsatisfact ory in practice. In

cracks and'fiakes the pitch lining, further 'exposing the metal. This results in the beer 'coming in contact with the metal, causing the latter to corrode and the flavor of the beer to be adversely affected. This cracking and flaking of the pitch lining as applied to metal beer barrels is so serious that it is common practice for 5 the brewer to re-pitch the beer barrels, as here'- tofore constructed, prior to each time they are filled with beer by the brewer. With steel barrels the corrosion is so great that commonly barrels have to be discarded after several months 10 use.

Applicant has found that alloys of high copper content, containing small amounts of silicon and still smaller amounts of iron, do not affect the brightness of the beer or impart thereto a metallic taste. These alloys preferably contain, approximately, 0.4 to 5% silicon and 0.1 to 0.6% iron, and at least about 88% copper, the amount of silicon in all instances being at least twice the amount of iron so as to insure that all of the latter will be in solution, as otherwise the alloys ordinarily will be subject to corrosion.

Other metals, such as tin and zinc, may also be incorporated to facilitate the workability of the alloys, and to impart other properties desirable in connection with beer barrels. As satisfactory for the purpose the alloys may contain, approximately, 1 to 10% zinc, provided the copper does not exceed about 93% of the alloys, and the sum of the copper, silicon and iron is between approximately 90 and 99%. Tin also may be incorporated, or both tin and zinc. Tin, among other things, enhances the corrosion resistance of the alloy. Ordinarily, best results will be secured with from 0.25 to 1.25% tin, an amount of tin in excess of 1.25% ordinarily being objectionable except for castings, as it renders the alloy hot short, that is to say, renders it unsuitable for hot working, and, in fact, best results will be secured, when the tin is over 1%, 40 if the silicon does not exceed about 4%. When both tin and zinc are employed, ordinarily best results will be secured when the sum of the copper, silicon, iron and tin is between 90 and 99%.

It has been found that the presence of both silicon and iron enables the barrel or lining to beheat treated belowthe annealing temperature to harden it, which .hardenening renders the,

,metal resistance to abrasion when the interior of the barrel is subjected to a cleansing operation. Ordinarily, when tin is absent, this heat treatment may consist in heating the alloy-to about 800 F., maintaining it .at that temperature for about two -hours, and then slowly cooling it at room temperature. Still fmther, the sheets, to

may be annealed to soften them, say by heating them to about 1000 F. for about one hour, and suddenly cooling them byplunging them into cold water.

When tin is present, the sheets may be annealed to soften them preliminary to forming the lining or barrel. This annealing operation may consist in heating the sheets to 800 to 1000 F. for

3 increased.

taste and brightness of the beer.

about one hour, or until further heating results in no further decrease'in the tensile strength, and slowly cooling the heated sheets. The sheets are then extremely ductile, permitting the barrel or lining to be readily formed by a spinning or other cold working operation. This cold working greatly increases the tensile strength and hardness, and by heat treating the alloy, say by heating. it to 500 to 600 F. for'30 to 90 minutes and slowly cooling it at room temperature, the yield point of the alloy may be markedly increased without decreasing the tensile strength or hardness. In fact ordinarily the hardness will be It will therefore be observed, that by use of silicon-and iron, the alloy is rendered inert to beer in respect to corrosion and affecting the- Tin, when employed, acts to secure a corrosion resistance, in

respect to beer, greater than'the,sum of the ef,-

fects, in this respect, of silicon and tin when used alone, and further acts effectively to mask any corrosion effects that would'be imparted by any minute traces of free iron that might, under adverse circumstances, be present.

Further, the alloys produced are readily hot workable into sheets preliminary to forming the barrel or its lining, and the sheets maybe readand yield point, exhibited by the alloys, enable i metal; r

Fig.2 is a section on the line 2-.2 'of Fig. 1

,ilyf cold worked, and heat treated to form an abrasion resistant surface contacting with the beer. The properties of high tensile strength the barrel or'lining to be fabricated with a miniumamount of material,:and enhance the durability of the article.

The. invention is not limited, to use in any particular construction of storage container or bar- However, for convenience in describing theinvention, one form of barrel. embodying the 111- E vention is illustrated in theaccompanying draw- 65 n ing, in which, Figjris a longitudinal section of abeerbarrel the lining of which consists of the improved a on an enlarged scale;- and v Figs. 3 and 4 are respectively more or less diagrammatic illustrations, on an enlarged scale showing details of assembly.

The barrel illustrated in the drawing has an outer shell, preferably of sheet metal, and an Furt :ther, due to the fact 'the beer does not corrode the alloy, the container so constructed has an indefinitely lo'nglife.

permit ready fabrication of the barrel or lining,

inner shell or lining formed of the hereinbefore mentioned copper-silicon alloy.

.As shown, the outer shell is formed of two cupshaped halves l shaped to present chines 3, the metal at the edges of the chines being bent over circular reinforcing rods 5, and the lateral walls of the shell being corrugated as indicated at I and 9 for imparting stiffness thereto. Similarly, the inner shell or lining is made of two cupshaped sheet metal halves H, preferably formed by pressing them from a flat sheet of the alloy.

As illustrated, the cup-shaped halves ll of the lining are bent outward at their rims to form flanges l3, while the outer shells l are formed with reduced diameter portions l having edges which abut with the inner shells adjacent the flanges. After the four halves thus formed'are placed in assembled relation with the insulating bodies '16 between them, they may bewelded together aiftheir rims to form an integral construction by use of an electric arc and a welding rod, the latter preferably of the same metal as the lining. It will be understood that'the-weld ing operation applies a mass ll of weld around .these rims, but that the drawing shows the weld .joint diagrammatically, and that in practice the adjacent edges of the outer shell and lining are fused with each other and the weld metal into a more or less homogeneous mass.

An opening in the upper head of the barrel, as viewed in the drawing, may be provided by forming the corresponding head portions of the inner and outer shells with aligned perforations, and securing in these perforations a screwthreaded sleeve l9, which latter is preferably a casting of the same metal as the inner shell. These perforations conveniently are formed before the barrel is assembled. The sleeve I9 is preferably in-' itially formed, at its inner end,.with aflange of reduced diameter which is inserted in the perforation in the inner 'shell and, as shown in the drawing at 2 l, is then bent downward,by a peening operation, to lie against the inner surface of the inner shell about the edges of this perforation so as'to secure the sleeve to the shell, after which, and before the inner and outer shells are secured together, the sleeve is welded to .the inner shell as indicatedat 23. When the shells are as-' sembled the outer end of the sleeve is received by the perforation in the tophead of the outer shell, and is welded thereto as indicated at 25. The opening 2-1 .in-the lateral wall of the barrel maybe provided by forming the inner and outer shelfhalv'es l and with complementary, seiniv circular recesses which, when the shell-halves are assembled, form circular openings for receiving a tapered sleer e 29 preferably formed of the same material as the inner shell. 'As shown, the inner shell or lining is so formed ab ut the circular opening therein as to .proyide an outwardly extending circular flange 3 I which flange is'received in the aligned circular opening formed in the cup- ,shapeddished-in portion 32 of the outer shell. After the cup-shaped halves of the two shells 'are assembled, as hereinbefore described, the sleeve 29 may be inserted in the opening of the flange 3| and the parts integrally-united, asindieated at 33, by use of a welding rod and arc. For reinforcing the sleeve 29 an insert 35 may be provided having a circular opening formed by an .inturned 'fla-nge 31, which insert may be placed overthe sleeve and welded thereto as indicated at 39. As shown by Figs. 2 and 4, the insert 35 has ortion extending radially oflthes leeve 29, and b inclined portions 4 I, so that the insert may contact with the outer shell substantially entirely about its edges. These edges, as shown, are welded to the outer shell as indicated at 43.

I claim:

1. A storage container for beer and the like having the inner surface thereof formed of a high copper content corrosion resistant coppersilicon-iron alloy in which the silicon is between approximately 0.4 and 5% and the iron between approximately 0.1 and 0.6%, but with at least twice as much silicon as iron in all instances, the copper being not less than about 88%.

2. A storage container for beer and the like having the inner surface thereof formed as a lining of a high copper content corrosion resistant copper-silicon-iron alloy in which the silicon is between approximately 0.4 and 5% and theiron between approximately 0.1 and 0.6%, but with at least twice as much silicon as iron in all instances, the copper being not less than about 3. A storage container for beer and the like having the inner surface thereof formed ,of a high copper content corrosion resistant coppersilicon-iron alloy in which the silicon is between approximately 0.4 and 5% and the iron between approximately 0.1 and 0.6%, but with at least twice as much silicon as iron in all instances, the copper being not less than about 88%, the sum of the copper, silicon and iron being not less than approximately and the balance of the alloy being substantially all zinc.

4. A storage container for beer and the like having theinner surface thereof formed of a high copper content corrosion resistant coppersilicon-iron alloy in which the silicon is between approximately 0.4 and 5% and the iron between approximately 0.1 and 0.6%, but with at least twice as much silicon as iron in all instances, the copper being not less than about 88%, the alloy also containing 0.25 to 1.25% tin.

5. A storage container for beer .and the like having the inner surface thereof formed of a high copper content corrosion resistant coppersilicon-iron alloy in which the silicon is between approximately 0.4 and 5% and the iron between approximately 0.1 and 0.6%, but with at least twice, as much silicon as iron in all instances, the copper being not less than about 88%, the alloy also containing 0.25 to 1.25% tin, the sum of the copper, silicon, iron and tin being not less than approximately 90%, and the balance of the alloy being substantially all zinc.

RICHARD A. WILKINS. 

